Spartan Vradenburg Drafted By Miami Marlins In Third Round Of MLB Draft
7/10/2023 7:12:00 PM | Baseball
Marks first time since 1969 that MSU had two players selected in first three rounds.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball player Brock Vradenburg was selected in the third round with the 78th overall pick by the Miami Marlins in the Major League Baseball Draft on Monday afternoon.
Vradenburg's third-round selection Monday combines with teammate Mitch Jebb's second-round selection Sunday night to mark the first time that two Spartans were selected in the first three rounds of the June Amateur MLB Draft since 1969 when Rick Miller and Harry Kendrick were both chosen in the second round. In 1973, two Spartans, Brad Van Pelt and Larry Ike, were both selected in the January Secondary Draft.
Additionally, junior first baseman Vradenburg is just the second Spartan to be drafted by the Miami Marlins and first since 2015 when pitcher Jeff Kinley was selected in the 28th round by the then-Florida Marlins.
With Vradenburg's selection in the 2023 MLB Draft, Michigan State has now had 37 draft selections under head coach Jake Boss Jr., while Jebb is the highest selection and Vradenburg is the second-highest in the 15 seasons under Coach Boss. Vradenburg and Jebb are the third pair of teammates to be selected in the Top 10 of the same MLB Draft under Coach Boss, joining Cam Gibson (5th round) and Ryan Krill (9th round) in 2015 and Cam Vieaux (6th round) and Jordan Zimmerman (7th round) in 2016. Before Jebb's selection Sunday night in the second round, MSU's last MLB Draft pick was Mason Erla in 2021.
Vradenburg, a native of Pasadena, Calif., garnered College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® accolades in the classroom, and on the field, collected four All-America accolades, to become only the second MSU Baseball student-athlete to earn both Athletic and Academic All-American Honors in the same season and the first since 1974 when Dale Frietch also earned Third-Team Athletic All-American accolades and First-Team Academic All-American honors.
In 2023, Vradenburg was named to D1Baseball's Third-Team All-America list, in addition to a Baseball America Third-Team All-American, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Third-Team All-America list as well as Third-Team All-America accolades from Collegiate Baseball. He also collected the NCBWA Region 5 Player of the Year award and was also named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings First-Team All-Midwest Region list.
Additionally, Vradenburg was the Spartans' first Academic All-American since 2011 when Brandon Eckerle earned first-team recognition, and overall was MSU Baseball's 15th Academic All-America accolade and the 12th different Spartan baseball player to earn Academic All-American honors.
As the Spartans' starting first baseman for all 55 games of the 2023 season, Vradenburg led MSU while ranking second in the B1G and 24th in the NCAA in batting average exactly a .400 average, becoming the first Spartan to hit .400 or better since 2002 and becoming the 28th member of MSU's ".400 Club." The Spartan first baseman is the first member of the club since 2002 when Brady Burrill (.414), Chris McCuiston (.404) and Bob Malek (.402) all hit over .400.
Vradenburg earned Big Ten All-Tournament Team accolades, after he led all first basemen in the tournament with a .455 average, going 5-for-11, with one double, finishing with six total bases and three RBI, posting a .545 slugging percentage and added two walks for a .571 on-base percentage.
He also ranked fourth in the league and 34th in the nation in total bases (155). Vradenburg was also third in the B1G and 30th in the NCAA in RBI (69), while ranking second in the league and 41st in the country in RBI/game (1.26). He also was fifth in the B1G and 86th in the NCAA in runs (62), just ahead of teammate Trent Farquhar (59). Vradenburg also led the B1G and ranked 24th in the NCAA in doubles (22), along with second in the league and 34th in the nation in doubles per game (0.40). The 22 doubles tied MSU's single-season doubles record, tying Blaise Salter (2014) & Chris McCuiston (2002) for the top spot.
With the 69 RBI, Vradenburg ranked No. 2 on MSU's single-season RBI list, while the 13 HR ranks tied for eighth on the Spartans' single-season HR list, and the 86 hits ranks seventh on MSU's single-season hits list.
Vradenburg had a season-long and MSU season-best 41-game on-base streak (March 4 - May 16), which came after a seven-game streak to open the season was halted and finished with a five-game streak after the 41-game streak came to an end, finishing with reaching base in 53 of the 55 games, only not reaching base vs. Charleston (March 3) and Indiana (May 18).
The Spartans had four players drafted in the 2019 MLB Draft: Mitchell Tyranski was selected in the 12th round (pick number 371 overall) by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Indigo Diaz was selected in the 27th round (pick number 871 overall) by the Atlanta Braves and Marty Bechina was selected in the 32nd round (pick number 974 overall) by the Oakland Athletics.
In 2018, Riley McCauley was selected in the 14th round (pick number 428 overall) by the Chicago Cubs. In 2017, three former MSU players were selected MLB Draft: Alex Troop (Washington, ninth round, 283 overall), Brandon Hughes (Chicago Cubs, 16th round, 495 overall), Nathan Witt (Los Angeles Dodgers, 17th round, 520 overall) and Joe Mockbee (Chicago White Sox, 29th round, 867 overall).
MSU had four juniors selected in the 2016 draft: Cam Vieaux (sixth round, Pittsburgh), Jordan Zimmerman (seventh round, Los Angeles Angles), Dakota Mekkes (10th round, Chicago Cubs) and Matt Byars (24th round, Minnesota). The year prior, a school-record eight players were taken in 2015: Cam Gibson (fifth round, Detroit), Ryan Krill (ninth round, New York Yankees), Anthony Misiewicz (18th round, Seattle), Cam Vieaux (19th round, Detroit), Jeff Kinley (28th round, Miami), Mick VanVossen (28th round, Washington), Blaise Salter (31st round, Detroit) and Mark Weist (37th round, San Francisco).
EL ➡️ MIA
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) July 10, 2023
Congrats Brock Vradenburg!!#GoGreen | #SpartansInTheBigLeagues | @VradenburgBrock pic.twitter.com/JtelfaVKQ1
Vradenburg's third-round selection Monday combines with teammate Mitch Jebb's second-round selection Sunday night to mark the first time that two Spartans were selected in the first three rounds of the June Amateur MLB Draft since 1969 when Rick Miller and Harry Kendrick were both chosen in the second round. In 1973, two Spartans, Brad Van Pelt and Larry Ike, were both selected in the January Secondary Draft.
Additionally, junior first baseman Vradenburg is just the second Spartan to be drafted by the Miami Marlins and first since 2015 when pitcher Jeff Kinley was selected in the 28th round by the then-Florida Marlins.
Spartan ➡️ Marlin
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) July 10, 2023
Congrats Brock Vradenburg on being drafted by the @Marlins in around 3 (78th overall pick)!!
With Mitch Jebb's 2nd Rnd selection last night, it's first time 2 Spartans selected in Top 4 Rnds since 1982!!#GoGreen | #SpartansInTheBigLeagues | @VradenburgBrock pic.twitter.com/D4IlPxJvGb
With Vradenburg's selection in the 2023 MLB Draft, Michigan State has now had 37 draft selections under head coach Jake Boss Jr., while Jebb is the highest selection and Vradenburg is the second-highest in the 15 seasons under Coach Boss. Vradenburg and Jebb are the third pair of teammates to be selected in the Top 10 of the same MLB Draft under Coach Boss, joining Cam Gibson (5th round) and Ryan Krill (9th round) in 2015 and Cam Vieaux (6th round) and Jordan Zimmerman (7th round) in 2016. Before Jebb's selection Sunday night in the second round, MSU's last MLB Draft pick was Mason Erla in 2021.
Vradenburg, a native of Pasadena, Calif., garnered College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® accolades in the classroom, and on the field, collected four All-America accolades, to become only the second MSU Baseball student-athlete to earn both Athletic and Academic All-American Honors in the same season and the first since 1974 when Dale Frietch also earned Third-Team Athletic All-American accolades and First-Team Academic All-American honors.
In 2023, Vradenburg was named to D1Baseball's Third-Team All-America list, in addition to a Baseball America Third-Team All-American, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Third-Team All-America list as well as Third-Team All-America accolades from Collegiate Baseball. He also collected the NCBWA Region 5 Player of the Year award and was also named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings First-Team All-Midwest Region list.
Additionally, Vradenburg was the Spartans' first Academic All-American since 2011 when Brandon Eckerle earned first-team recognition, and overall was MSU Baseball's 15th Academic All-America accolade and the 12th different Spartan baseball player to earn Academic All-American honors.
As the Spartans' starting first baseman for all 55 games of the 2023 season, Vradenburg led MSU while ranking second in the B1G and 24th in the NCAA in batting average exactly a .400 average, becoming the first Spartan to hit .400 or better since 2002 and becoming the 28th member of MSU's ".400 Club." The Spartan first baseman is the first member of the club since 2002 when Brady Burrill (.414), Chris McCuiston (.404) and Bob Malek (.402) all hit over .400.
Vradenburg earned Big Ten All-Tournament Team accolades, after he led all first basemen in the tournament with a .455 average, going 5-for-11, with one double, finishing with six total bases and three RBI, posting a .545 slugging percentage and added two walks for a .571 on-base percentage.
He also ranked fourth in the league and 34th in the nation in total bases (155). Vradenburg was also third in the B1G and 30th in the NCAA in RBI (69), while ranking second in the league and 41st in the country in RBI/game (1.26). He also was fifth in the B1G and 86th in the NCAA in runs (62), just ahead of teammate Trent Farquhar (59). Vradenburg also led the B1G and ranked 24th in the NCAA in doubles (22), along with second in the league and 34th in the nation in doubles per game (0.40). The 22 doubles tied MSU's single-season doubles record, tying Blaise Salter (2014) & Chris McCuiston (2002) for the top spot.
With the 69 RBI, Vradenburg ranked No. 2 on MSU's single-season RBI list, while the 13 HR ranks tied for eighth on the Spartans' single-season HR list, and the 86 hits ranks seventh on MSU's single-season hits list.
Vradenburg had a season-long and MSU season-best 41-game on-base streak (March 4 - May 16), which came after a seven-game streak to open the season was halted and finished with a five-game streak after the 41-game streak came to an end, finishing with reaching base in 53 of the 55 games, only not reaching base vs. Charleston (March 3) and Indiana (May 18).
The Spartans had four players drafted in the 2019 MLB Draft: Mitchell Tyranski was selected in the 12th round (pick number 371 overall) by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Indigo Diaz was selected in the 27th round (pick number 871 overall) by the Atlanta Braves and Marty Bechina was selected in the 32nd round (pick number 974 overall) by the Oakland Athletics.
In 2018, Riley McCauley was selected in the 14th round (pick number 428 overall) by the Chicago Cubs. In 2017, three former MSU players were selected MLB Draft: Alex Troop (Washington, ninth round, 283 overall), Brandon Hughes (Chicago Cubs, 16th round, 495 overall), Nathan Witt (Los Angeles Dodgers, 17th round, 520 overall) and Joe Mockbee (Chicago White Sox, 29th round, 867 overall).
MSU had four juniors selected in the 2016 draft: Cam Vieaux (sixth round, Pittsburgh), Jordan Zimmerman (seventh round, Los Angeles Angles), Dakota Mekkes (10th round, Chicago Cubs) and Matt Byars (24th round, Minnesota). The year prior, a school-record eight players were taken in 2015: Cam Gibson (fifth round, Detroit), Ryan Krill (ninth round, New York Yankees), Anthony Misiewicz (18th round, Seattle), Cam Vieaux (19th round, Detroit), Jeff Kinley (28th round, Miami), Mick VanVossen (28th round, Washington), Blaise Salter (31st round, Detroit) and Mark Weist (37th round, San Francisco).
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